


Constant Vigilance

by yourmothersmeatloaf



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-07-21
Updated: 2014-07-27
Packaged: 2018-02-09 18:45:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1993797
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yourmothersmeatloaf/pseuds/yourmothersmeatloaf
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Why, oh, why, did I not let the police find me? Oh that's right. You and your stupid face." ---Remus Lupin</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Don't Fear the Reaper

I sank into the corner of my room listening to my parents fighting, again. At this point it didn’t even affect me. I always knew it would be coming. As I put my headphones in I heard something I did not expect. A sound of skin on skin and a woman’s shriek. Anger boiling up inside of me I got up and tore out of my room, seeing my mother on the floor with my father hand in air, still.  
I marched over to my father and breaking the silent and calm composure I usually kept, I screamed on the top of my voice, “What are you doing?!” The only answer was a fist in my eye, momentarily blinding me. I clutched my head and sank to my knees, ashamed that this one hit was enough to keep me from fighting. I heard my mother whisper, “Get away, Remus.”  
I looked at her like she was mad. Go back to bed? Fat chance. “Mommy loves you, Remus. Get away.” I stared at the look of authority. I knew I should listen to her, with that hard expression on her face, as well as the look of warm love in her eyes. I felt my throat become tight and my eyes sting, I didn’t want to leave her, but I knew she was doing what was best for me. She knew if I left with her, he would follow us and likely kill us both. So, while my father was preoccupied maintaining his status quo of drunkenness, I got up and scampered over to my room as quickly and quietly as possible.  
I dashed to pull out my ratty old suitcase worn from just sitting in the closet, having never been used, as I had no family who wanted to see me, no friends, and no money to take trips anywhere. I quickly filled it with all of my possessions, clothes and as many books as I could manage. I grabbed my headphones as well as my phone which I could afford with my minimum wage part-time job. I opened the window, grimacing at the noises coming from the house. Once I managed to put my suitcase down and I knew I was in a place where I wasn’t at risk of that monster hearing me, I dialed 911.  
Once that conversation was over, I left. I didn’t want to be taken in by the police, even though I knew I had nowhere else to go. I took off at a run down the street and didn’t stop until I had five blocks, and four turns between my old house and I. Though, I didn’t dare stop there. I put my headphones in and played the music I pirated while using the internet at the library. I wandered for about an hour and forty five minutes until I decided I have gone far enough to take a small break. I sauntered over to a nearby park I had made my destination about five blocks ago when it was first spotted.  
I sat on a swing and placed my head in my hands. What was I to do? I had no money and no one to get by with. Almost as if the universe just had to prove me wrong, I heard the swing next to mine creak as if there was a new weight on it, that I could just hardly handle. As I looked up in shock so abruptly that I fell onto the gravel underneath myself, I realized that was one weak swing. There was a boy about my age with long, greasy, black hair sitting there, smirking down at me. Embarrassed, I got up, and dusted my clothes off.  
“Running away?” He asked in the most amazingly silky and mysterious voice I ever had the privilege to hear. I didn’t know how to answer. “That’s a nice eye you got there? Going for the Goth look, or did someone really just have it out for you?” I was now at a loss for words. “Oh, I’ve got it! Abusive father?” He asked darkly. He must’ve seen my slight cringe and knew he had an answer. “I’m Severus Snape.” And held out his hand for me to shake.  
“I-..My name is Remus Lupin.” I said as I went to shake his hand. He was warm for someone you expected to have cold blood. He nodded and didn’t let go of my hand. I raised a brow at him, wondering what the hell her was doing holding my hand.  
“Come on, I have somewhere you can go for the night.” He said. I nodded in agreement, not because I wanted to go to this somewhat alluring stranger’s house for the night, no that wasn’t it at all. It was because I needed somewhere to go, I mean what was I going to do sleep under a car. “I could leave you here. I mean, there’s cars around here, you can’t get fully raped under a car.” I saw panic flash in his eyes so I smiled at his joke, letting him know he didn’t cross a line. He charged forwards towards this destination that I had absolutely no idea about. Suddenly dread set in me as I wondered whether I made a huge mistake by coming to this stranger’s house.  
“I know we know why I am out here at eleven o’clock at night, but why are you here?” I inquired. He only looked at me sideways and said with more than a little bitterness in his voice, “Scoping for little boys, I touch them and all.” I didn’t question this. Even though I knew it to be completely ridiculous I wondered somewhere in the back of my brain if he really did touch little boys. Suddenly we came to a stop causing me to drop my suitcase onto my foot and run into Severus.  
I let out a small yelp and he looked at me funny. I looked at him and asked, “Where are we?” He smiled a small smile and answered.  
“Number twelve Grimmauld Place.”


	2. It's Magic

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Remus finds that the contents of the Black house are so far advanced in technology, it's almost like magic.

I looked at the gloomy building in front of me. “Really?” I asked. Then I looked at Severus for a moment and decided that house does look like somewhere he’d live. After all, don’t vampires live in scary places?  
Then the dread that seems to make a permanent nest in the bottom of my stomach began to act up again. Oh, god. Here it is. Time to get raped. I squeezed my eyes shut as the long bony fingers wrapped themselves around my wrist and led me up the front stairs. The only thing that made me decide I wanted my vision after all was the knocking I heard, seemingly from right beside me. I looked at Severus rapping softly on the door, so that was it? He didn’t live here. It must’ve been his secret underground society, where they auction off cute eleven year old boys!  
Then making the dread even more active, the door creaked open. I flinched and Severus cast me a concerned look, before wrapping his arm around me in comfort. I will never admit aloud that it did, in fact, help a great deal. All too soon, another boy with long black hair—though this time much less greasy stood in place of the oak door. I looked between them nervously.  
“Are you alright?” Severus asked. I really couldn’t help but blurt out the first thing laying in my idiotic brain.  
“Is it okay that I don’t have black hair?” The two boys looked between each other and me before bursting out laughing.  
“What. Is. This?” I had a voice of extreme sarcasm fill my ears. “Snivillus is laughing? Brother, what did mother tell you about handling that crack?” The boy who spoke looked a bit younger than the boy in the doorway, and he had much longer black hair, once again making me feel left out of an exclusive club. “Who’s that?”  
“New person!” I heard an energetic shout from inside the house. Frightening me just a little more than a little bit I heard heavy footfalls running through the house, right towards me. Next thing I knew I had arms around me. I gasped in surprised, what was this guy, now? He smelled heavily of peanuts. “He’s mine, guys. Screw off, Regulus, Snivillus.” Then he grabbed me by the wrist and began to pull me into the house. I snatched my hand away from him, much to his surprise, apparently. I stepped back slowly back to Severus.  
“And, his name is Severus. Not Snivillus.” I said a bit sharper than was intended.  
“Oh, if only you knew…” The boy with the gracefully long hair sighed.  
“But, he must’ve put a love spell on you! Snape! Underage magic is bad. Oh, poor chap, he’s in too deep, there’s no saving him. Come on, Sirius, our attention is better served elsewhere.” Sirius, the boy with the long hair, pulled his eyes from me (seemingly reluctantly?) and nodded to his friend and they once again entered the house.  
“James, you prat! Ever consider that he doesn’t know about love spells and underage magic?” Severus snapped after the boy with the messy black hair.  
“Snivillus, you prat! Ever consider that he wasn’t questioning it?” James yelled back, amusement in his voice.  
“Besides, how were you going to explain the moving pictures in the house? I heard muggles don’t have moving pictures.” He looked to me, “Do they?” I was startled.  
“Moving pictures, like, video recordings?” James and Sirius laughed, before saying a blatant ‘no’. I nodded and looked down, blushing, though smiling.  
“Aww! Look at how cute he is! C’mon hang out with us, just for an hour, then you can return to your boyfriend.” James said in a cooing voice. I felt my face get impossibly hotter.  
“We’re not dating.” I mumbled. James and Sirius laughed.  
“So, how about it, guys?” Sirius said looking up at Severus and Regulus, the first time I heard him address them somewhat politely. “We get him for an hour, then you get an hour, we’ll see who he wants to be with more after that?”  
“Whoa, wait. Why do I have to choose?” They all looked at each other and laughed. Why was that the thing I questioned out of everything in this conversation? What the hell is going on? I saw Severus nod and I made a note to hit him later, letting these monsters take me away to their fortress of solitude. I didn’t want to get hurt.  
“Yay! Come, come, er…?” James attempted.  
“Remus.” I sighed. He beamed at me and pulled me into the house, practically skipping. They pulled me up the stairs, pausing only to stick their tongues out at Severus and place the letter L on their foreheads, indicating the word ‘loser’. I frowned at them, and was about to say something before I noticed pictures moving in their frames. I examined them closely, how did this work? That was some wicked technology. I turned back to them and smiled, it was almost like magic, technology was, now-a-days. We made our way up several stairs until we reached a bedroom that was rather messy. I sat on the bed and silently begged time to move quickly so this hour could be over.  
*&*  
An hour of watching James and Sirius horse around later, they still hadn’t won my affection over and I desperately craved the calm of Severus. The two rowdy boys walked me back downstairs into the comforting presence of the boy who greatly represented a vampire bat. I sat across from him and he handed me a book almost immediately, I didn’t know or care about what it was, I just wanted to escape all memories of the last hour. Only when I was three pages in, did I notice what kind of words where filling my head. What was I reading?  
“Hogwarts: A History.” I read aloud. “What’s Hogwarts?” Snape sat up and looked at me.  
“Well, I figured, since you’d be with us for a while, you may as well know the truth about us.”  
“Truth?’ That was it, here comes the secret underground society secret.  
“We’re wizards, Remus.” Not only Severus said, but all of Regulus, Severus, Sirius and James. All together. All I could do was smile and then burst out laughing. I didn’t stop until I realized the serious expressions extended all the way to the eyes of Sirius and James, and to be completely honest, within my seventy minutes of knowing them, I thought it was near impossible. I decided they were being serious.  
“Oh.” I managed to push my voice to say. “Wizards.” My eyes flickered to the moving pictures, “Magic.”


	3. Fear of the Dark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Unbelievable nonsense.

After the stunned silence began, I decided to completely disregard what they had told me, because while it made plenty of sense, it made little to no sense at all. I just looked back down at the book I was reading and kept reading on. Though, it did make it hard to disregard everything that my life decided I needed in it. I could feel the eyes boring into me from all around the room.  
I looked up at James and Sirius and said, “Well, move on. You’ve had your hour with me, now leave me to Severus and this one.”  
“Regulus,” The boy with the lengthy (but no match for Sirius) hair corrected me and I nodded mumbling a small thank you. James and Sirius nodded and left the room, leaving us to our conventions.  
“I suppose you have inquires?” Severus asked in his soft but commanding voice after a while of reading in silence. I looked up from Hogwarts: A History, and nodded. I closed the book and moved to the edge of the seat looking at Severus severely. He also closed his book and repositioned himself so he could see me properly.  
“Well, yes. First of all, why should I believe you?” I asked sounded casual, even though I was praying to whatever God may be there that what they said was true.  
“I guess, you shouldn’t. I mean, with common sense and all. Though, soon we’ll be receiving our letters for Hogwarts. I suppose it’d be alright to let you come to platform 9 ¾ at the king’s cross station.” I looked at him as if he was a huge dunce.  
“Severus, I respect you, and you seem beautifully smart, but there’s platform 9 and platform 10. No platform 9 ¾, however.” He looked at me and chuckled and mumbled something that sounded like ‘muggle’. “What is a muggle?” I asked, remembering the word in Hogwarts: A History.  
“A muggle is a non-magic person.” Regulus answered for Severus. I nodded in slow understanding. I heard the clock ring throughout the house, signaling it was now two in the morning. I suddenly felt tiredness settle into my muscles. I yawned not so discreetly.  
“Oh, are you tired?” Severus asked kindly, right as the obnoxious James and Sirius bounded once more into the room. I was more annoyed about this fact because I was then unable of talking calmly with Severus and occasionally Regulus, and asking questions and getting answers I felt I could trust.  
“We’ll be taking our new friend now,” James said as Sirius picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. I saw Regulus and Severus stand quickly.  
“Don’t be ridiculous!” Severus snapped.  
“Yes, he obviously liked us more!” Regulus said. (I supposed it was true, I mean I didn’t even bother to explain my time with the two energetic boys.)  
“I choose all of you! I like all of you!” I exclaimed. I wouldn’t want to limit myself when it came to friends, because if a couple walked away I’d be completely alone once again. It felt a little like I was using them, but I wasn’t. I wasn’t because I didn’t dislike James and Sirius. I knew if I gave them more of a chance, we would become good friends. They all looked at each other, mildly exasperated.  
“Well, we’re taking with us to bed, then.” James said.  
“If that’s okay with you.” Sirius addressed me. I nodded and James and Sirius let out triumphant yells, and ran heavily up the stairs once again into Sirius’ room. “Oh, James, where will he sleep?” Gazing at the twins beds, I too, did not have the answer.  
“With me, duh.” James said loudly. Sirius laughed at this. “What?” James asked offended. “There is nothing gay about it!”  
“I know that, you dingus. I just mean, you’re a wild animal once you fall into dream land. You may hurt him, I mean, he is…kinda…feminine.” I felt my face turn hot and red.  
“Well, what do you reckon we do, then?” James asked indifferently. I looked to Sirius along with James.  
“How about we share your bed, and Remus, here, gets the bed I usually stay on.” Sirius suggested.   
“Yeah, like hell I’m sharing a twin bed with you. You great prat. You’re a cuddler. I’m not cuddling you. You can sleep on the floor. Unless Remus is okay with sharing a bed with you.” They both looked at me expectantly. I shrugged, telling them I don’t really care. Sirius then declared he’d sleep on the floor, not wanting to make me uncomfortable. I felt a little bad, I protested saying that I would gladly sleep on the floor not wanting to disturb.  
“Remus, if we didn’t want the intrusion we wouldn’t have taken you by near force.” James deadpanned. I nodded, not wanting to argue with such strong looking people. Even if they were strong, it seemed like they’d never want to hurt anyone, unless that person was Severus. They seemed to detest each other. Finally after the small, but friendly, dispute took place, we settled into the respective sleeping places.  
As soon as my head touched the pillow the light drizzle that started earlier in the night, turned into a hardcore rainfall. I squeezed my eyes shut, hoping desperately that the rain would not progress to a thunder storm. I assonated thunder and lightning with the late nights I spent hiding from my parents fighting. Almost as soon as the thought crossed my mind, the room was suddenly illuminated and that shaken by the rumble of thunder. I bit my lip and squeezed my eyes shut harder.  
It felt as though a lot of time had passed before the next flash of light and rumble of thunder came around, which I was thankful for, until it scared me with how suddenly appeared. I let a surprised squeal out. I instantly regretted it. The next thing I knew was the shifting weight of the mattress and the sudden warmth of breath in my ear.  
“Are you afraid?”  
“No.” The word sounded firm, even if it was a lie.  
“I don’t believe you.”  
“Well, whose problem is that?” I said in a whisper, knowing very well that it was mine.  
“Certainly not mine.” I could hear the smirk in the voice. I felt the body crawl over me and lay right behind me, wrapping their arms around me. “Don’t worry, Remus, I’ll protect you.”  
Feeling myself so safe in the strong arms, I found myself quickly giving into the comfort of sleep.  
“Thank you…Sirius.”


End file.
